1. Rush's extravagant assessment of Conway's contribution to the Battle of Germantown
on 4 Oct. reflected his own critical attitude toward Washington. Later, Conway's criticism
of Washington in a letter to Gates roused Washington's anger and led to the supposition
of a conspiracy against the commander in chief, the so-called Conway Cabal, for which
modern historians have found no basis in fact. Modern accounts of Germantown stress
the hard-driving attacks of units under Sullivan, of which Conway's was only one,
and under Greene, particularly Peter Muhlenberg's brigade. The failure at Germantown
at the moment of apparent victory was owing to confusion in a heavy ground fog and
perhaps to a too ambitious military plan requiring more precise timing than the Americans
could achieve (Ward, War of the Revolution, 1:362–371).